(L to R) O’Shea Jackson Jr. as Donnie Wilson and Gerard Butler as ‘Big Nick’ O’Brien in ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’. Photo Credit: Rico Torres.
The long-awaited sequel to 2018’s action classic ‘Den of Thieves’, entitled ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’ and once again written and directed by Christian Gudegast, opens in theaters on January 10th.
The movie features Gerard Butler (‘Law Abiding Citizen’) and O’Shea Jackson Jr. (‘Straight Outta Compton’) reprising their roles as Big Nick and Donnie, respectively, but also includes new cast members Evin Ahmed (‘Girls of the Sun’), Michael Bisping (‘XXX: Return of Xander Cage’), and Salvatore Esposito (‘Fargo’).
Related Article: Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. Talk ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’
Initial Thoughts
Gerard Butler as ‘Big Nick’ O’Brien in ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’. Photo Credit: Rico Torres for Lionsgate.
As a fan of the original ‘Den of Thieves’, which was an underrated brilliant and entertaining crime thriller, I was slightly disappointed by the follow up ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera,’ which transforms the franchise into an international heist movie, like ‘Fast Five’.
With Pablo Schreiber’s Ray Merrimen no longer available for the sequel (Spoiler Alert: He dies in the original), the franchise loses some of its magic as the story shifts from being a showdown between Merriman and Detective Nick O’Brien (Gerard Butler), to exploring the aftermath of ‘Den of Thieves’ and Big Nick’s pursuit of O’Shea Jackson Jr.’s Donnie, who was revealed to be the true criminal mastermind at the end of the first film.
While that reveal gave the original a surprising ‘Usual Suspects’ type ending, which worked for the first film, the sequel fails to make that reveal seem believable as Jackson is not quite up to the task of making that complex character work. But Jackson clearly has great chemistry with Butler, and his over-the-top performance as Big Nick, arguably Butler’s signature character now, makes the film captivating enough for fans of the original and heist movie lovers in general.
Script and Direction
(L to R) Producer Tucker Tooley and writer and director Christian Gudegast for ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’.
Picking up directly after the events of ‘Den of Thieves’, ‘Pantera’ opens with a great diamond heist sequence set at an airport in Antwerp, Belgium. We soon learn that Donnie (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) has a new crew and pulled off this heist to help with another bigger score that he is working on, not unlike the plot of the first film. We then see LA police detective “Big Nick” (Gerard Butler) dealing with both his divorce and the aftermath of the Federal Reserve heist back in Los Angeles and still in pursuit of Donnie.
With no money reported missing from the Federal Reserve, Nick is encouraged by his superiors to drop the case as the news of a Federal Reserve heist would be bad press for everyone. But when Nick realizes that Donnie was behind the Antwerp diamond heist, he travels to Europe to find and confront Donnie. The two men finally come together, but rather than taking Donnie to the authorities, fed up with his own life situation, Nick offers to help Donnie with his next scheme, saying that he is “tired of being the hunter”. As Donnie’s next heist starts to unfold, he and Nick are forced to work together and trust each other if they want to pull it off, but can either man really trust the other? Or is there something else at play?
While ‘Pantera’ is an adequate international heist movie, it is disappointing as a sequel and in addition to the absence of Merrimen and Pablo Schreiber, who besides Butler really was the MVP of the original, I think it was a big mistake to move the action out of Los Angeles, which really was its own character in the first movie (even if it was really shot in Atlanta). I understand the appeal of moving the sequel to Europe and opening it up to be more of a heist film than a crime thriller, but for me, that was a big mistake. As a fan of the original, part of the fun of that movie was watching the cat and mouse game between Big Nick and Merriman, and unfortunately, the relationship between Donnie and Nick is just not as compelling.
(L to R) Pablo Schreiber as Ray Merrimen and O’Shea Jackson Jr. as Donnie Wilson in ‘Den of Thieves’. Photo: STXfilms.
Besides Big Nick and Donnie, the sequel does not bring back many characters from the first film except for Jordan Bridges’ Lobbin’ Bob (who is less of an antagonist this time around), and Meadow Williams as Holly, Merrimen’s girlfriend who had an affair with Big Nick. Bridges’ character is used well, if not sparingly, but Williams’ character has a more confusing reintroduction. Her character sets up an interesting story thread for the sequel that never seems to be truly explored, making that character’s inclusion irrelevant to the movie’s plot.
Writer and director Christian Gudegast takes full advantage of the European scenery, and the heists are intricate and well-choreographed. But again, moving the action over-seas was a mistake, and centering the story on Big Nick and Donnie’s relationship didn’t quite work. Perhaps, a better angle would have been to have Big Nick and his team chasing a new crew in LA and having to reluctantly team up with Donnie to take them down, but maybe that can be saved for the next installment.
It’s also worth mentioning that the sequel lacks any classic dialogue like the first movie had with quotable lines such as, “You just threw a donut in the hot zone”, “You’re not the bad guys, we are,” “We’re cop killers now,” or “We got family here bro. Don’t really appreciate you popping off.” Also, one of the greatest scenes in modern cinematic history is the Benihana sequence from the original, and while I didn’t expect them to recreate that, the party and Shawarma scenes that are meant to be the sequel’s big set pieces, do not pack as much of a punch.
Cast and Performances
(L to R) Gerard Butler as ‘Big Nick’ O’Brien and O’Shea Jackson Jr. as Donnie Wilson in ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’. Photo Credit: Rico Torres.
Make no mistakes, this is still Gerard Butler’s movie, and he is excellent reprising his role as Big Nick, which at this point, is the best character of his career. Butler brings the same urgency and over-the-top energy he embodied in the original, and his bonding scenes with Donnie do work on some level. Taking Nick out of LA and making him a fish-out-of-water in Europe was an interesting idea but doesn’t resonate as well as the character did in the first movie. Butler carries this sequel on his back, doing most of the heavy lifting, and elevates the film as best as he can.
While O’Shea Jackson Jr. has great chemistry with Butler, the character of Donnie does not work as well now that we know his real identity. In the first movie, Donnie was pretending to be someone else for almost the entire film, claiming to be “just a driver” to both Nick and the audience. The final scene reveal works for that movie and is a real surprise, but it’s harder to except Donnie as a criminal genius this time around. The sequel spends a little time exploring the real Donnie, but not enough since the heist itself takes so much time to really execute. And while I think Jackson is an excellent young actor, I don’t think he was up to the challenge of co-starring in this film with Butler.
Again, had they replaced the Merrimen character with another villain, having an actor like Jon Bernthal or Frank Grillo playing that role, and Donnie helping Nick to catch him, maybe it could have worked better. The rest of the new cast members basically play thankless roles that are not worth mentioning, but Swedish actress Evin Ahmad is a welcomed addition as Jovanna, Nick’s new love interest and a member of Donnie’s crew.
Final Thoughts
O’Shea Jackson Jr as Donnie Wilson in ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’. Photo Credit: Rico Torres for Lionsgate.
As a huge fan of the original, ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’ is not everything that I had hoped it would be, but frankly, I’m still glad that it exists. I love seeing Butler as Big Nick, and I would watch that character in anything. It’s Butler’s best role, and I really hope he reprises it for a third film, one that will hopefully take place in Los Angeles again, and feature him hunting a new bad guy.
‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’ receives 7 out of 10 stars.
What is the plot of ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’?
Immediately following the events of ‘Den of Thieves’, sheriff “Big Nick” O’Brien (Gerard Butler) is tracking down Donnie Wilson (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), who escaped to Europe and is planning another heist.
Who is in the cast of ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’?
Gerard Butler as ‘Big Nick’ O’Brien in ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’. Photo Credit: Rico Torres for Lionsgate.